(Radio Iowa) – Amazon is announcing plans to hire more than one-thousand workers across its Iowa locations, part of a national hiring blitz to fill 125-thousand new positions. Dave Bozeman, Amazon’s vice president of operations, says immediate openings are being posted today in communities including Des Moines and Iowa City. While Iowa employers in an array of industries express difficulty finding qualified workers to fill open positions, Bozeman predicts the online retailer’s salary and benefits will be a strong lure. “Average pay is going to be $18 an hour, up to $22.50 in certain areas,” Bozeman says. “They’re going to come with fantastic benefits on day one, health benefits, vision, dental, 401-K.”

In December, Amazon opened its fulfillment center near Des Moines in Bondurant, which employs several hundred. The facility boasts being able to process up to 950-thousand packages a day. The company also has delivery stations in Iowa City, Des Moines and Grimes, with a warehouse in Ankeny and another warehouse under construction in Council Bluffs. Bozeman says there are a host of full- and part-time openings. “It’s going to be across the entire network, so it’s going to be within our fulfillment center warehouses, it’s going to be in our sortation centers in which they’re sorting the product,” Bozeman says. “It’s also going to be within our delivery stations as well.”

The company is already offering same-day delivery on some products in parts of Iowa. “We’re going to continue to grow our same-day delivery as well as our normal network and these jobs will only staff and fuel that,” Bozeman says. “We feel good about our same-day delivery. It’s an awesome thing for customers and that’s what we do.” In July, Amazon announced it’s building a 640,000 square foot fulfillment center in Davenport that will employ one-thousand people full-time when it opens. The company is offering sign-on bonuses of up to $3,000 in some locations, but it’s unclear if any are in Iowa.
www.amzn.to/iowajobs

Deputies with the Page County Sheriff’s Office, Monday, arrested a man at the Pottawattamie County Jail. Zane Edward Szeliga. He was arrested on a valid Page County Warrant for Theft in the 3rd Degree. His cash or surety bond was set at $2,000.

Zane Szeliga

Adair County Sheriff Jeff Vandewater reports six women and one man were arrested on separate charges over the past week. Most recently:

• At around 2-a.m. Friday, 30-year-old Tarra Ann Jones, of Winterset, was arrested for Driving While Barred, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia (Meth pipe), and Driving While Licensed Revoked for OWI. The arrest took place following a traffic stop in Orient. Jones also did not have an ignition interlock device installed in her vehicle, or SR-22 Insurance, as required. She was released later that same day on her Own Recognizance.
• Thursday afternoon, 26-year-old Elizabeth Jane White, of Stuart, was arrested by Stuart Police, for Assault/displaying a dangerous weapon, and Public Intoxication. She was released Sept.11th on a $2,000 cash/surety bond. She was arrested following an incident involving her mother, at an apartment complex in Stuart.
• Early Thursday morning, 49-year-old Melissa Ann Ross, and 22-year-old Heaven Marie Jordan, both of Greenfield, were arrested by Adair County Sheriff’s Deputies, on warrants out of Republic County, Kansas. Ross was wanted for Aggravated Robbery, Aggravated Battery, Criminal Threat, and Promoting the sale of sexual relations. Jordan was wanted on the same charges. Both women remain held without bond in the Adair County Jail.
• On Sept. 8th, 34-year-old Lyndsey Marie Cottrell, of Cumberland, was arrested on a Fremont County felony warrant for failure to appear on: a controlled substance violation; Possession of contraband in a jail; and possession of burglars tools. She was released the following day on a $25,000 cash only bond; 31-year-old Justin Lee Whipple, of Des Moines, was arrested on an Adair County warrant for Violation of Probation. He was released Sept. 12th, on a $1,000 cash only bond; And, 39-year-old Stacy Jean Quakenbush, of Lincoln, NE., was arrested Sept. 8th, on an Adair County felony warrant for Prohibited Act – Prescription Drug Violation/3rd or subsequent offense, and three counts Prohibited Act – Prescription Drug Violation/2nd offense, all of which according to the charges, took place between Dec. 18-24, 2019. Quakenbush was being held in the Adair County Jail on a $16,000 cash only bond.